Dr. Martin J. Tobin, a pulmonologist and critical care physician from the Chicago area, was the first witness prosecutors called to the stand in the Derek Chauvin trial on Thursday.
When prosecutors asked if he had formed a medical opinion on what had caused George Floyd’s death, Dr. Tobin said, “Mr. Floyd died from a low level of oxygen, and this caused damage to his brain that we see, and it also caused a P.E.A. arrhythmia because his heart stopped,” referring to pulseless electrical activity, or cardiac arrest.
The low level of oxygen was caused by “shallow breathing,” he said. Mr. Floyd’s prone position and his being handcuffed, and Mr. Chauvin’s knee on his neck and back, he said, contributed to the shallow breathing.
Dr. Tobin added that the position in which Mr. Floyd was handcuffed, with the force of the officers compounding with the asphalt street, ultimately prevented him from being able to breathe fully.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state will file a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding cruise ships be allowed to resume sailing immediately.
“On behalf of the tens of thousands of Floridians whose livelihoods depends on the viability of an open cruise industry, today Florida’s fighting back,” he announced in a press conference. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year, based on very little evidence and very little data.”
DeSantis called the CDC’s decision to delay the opening of the U.S. cruise industry “irrational” and said he believes that this lawsuit will have a “good chance for success.”
The CDC was not immediately available for comment.
In the first 6 months of the pandemic, Florida lost $3.2 billion from the cruise industry shutdown, including almost 50,000 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages, according to a September 2020 report from the Federal Maritime Commission. Since the CDC shut down the U.S. cruise industry last year, the state’s seaports have seen a decline in operating revenue of almost $300 million, and that figure is expected to reach nearly $400 million in July, the Florida Department of Transportation told CNBC.
The governor signed an executive order on Friday banning so-called vaccine passports, which will also apply to the cruise industry, saying that businesses and government agencies cannot require customers or patrons to show proof of vaccination.
In October, the CDC, in its Framework for Conditional Sailing order, said research showed that Covid spread more easily on cruise ships than in other environments. The agency cited, among other research, a study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine that found that the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise spread at a rate that was four times higher, averaging one person spreading it to 15 people, than in its original epicenter in Wuhan, China, where it averaged one person spreading it to four people.
Cruise lines extend trip suspensions
Royal Caribbean announced Thursday that it will be extending the suspension of some of its trips leaving from U.S. ports.
Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises trips will be suspended until June 30, according to a press release. However, trips leaving from new home ports in other areas of the world are still operating on schedule.
The Silversea extensions exclude Silver Moon, Silver Origin and Silver Explorer.
“Safety is the first priority, and we know that cruising can be safe, as we have seen in Europe and Asia,” said Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO, in a press release. He remains optimistic about the second half of this year, citing President Joe Biden’s promise for society to return to normal by July 4.
Disney Cruise Line also announced on Monday that it will be further suspending its U.S. trips through June. This will affect its Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder sailings.
Industry asks to be treated like airlines
Royal Caribbean has carried over 100,000 guests on its ships outside the U.S. since the pandemic and has only seen 10 Covid cases, Fain said on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday. He said he “would like to be treated in a very similar way to the airlines and other forms of transportation.”
Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. He said cruise lines would “like to be treated the same as other sectors and travel and tourism and entertainment.”
While airlines are able to fly across the world during the pandemic, the cruise industry, which had over 100,000 American jobs pre-Covid, has faced about a year without any trips from its U.S. ports.
“The irony is that today an American can fly to any number of destinations to take a cruise, but cannot board a ship in the U.S.,” the Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement on Monday, calling for the CDC to lift its conditional sail order, which outlines a phased return to U.S. cruise operations with no specified date.
Last week, the CDC released technical instructions for cruise ships, including increasing the frequency of Covid case reporting from weekly to daily, establishing a plan for all staff members to be vaccinated and implementing routine testing. However, this update did not specify a date for cruise lines to return to operation in the U.S.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Arnold Donald is CEO of Carnival Corporation.
President Joe Biden announced a series of executive actions on Thursday to reduce gun violence and urged Congress to pass broader gun-control legislation.
The bundle of actions, Biden’s first attempt as president to tackle the fraught politics surrounding guns in America, was unveiled in the wake of a recent spate of mass shootings across the country, including Thursday in South Carolina, where five people were gunned down. In the past three weeks, other deadly mass shootings occurred in Georgia, Colorado and California.
“This is an epidemic, for God’s sake, and it has to stop,” Biden said in a Rose Garden speech.
The White House’s moves include directing the Department of Justice to craft a rule addressing the spread of untraceable “ghost guns” and publish an example of “red flag” legislation for states to follow.
Red-flag laws allow police or family members to petition a court to bar an individual from accessing firearms. Biden also called for a federal red-flag law, saying such legislation would prevent suicides, protect women from domestic violence, and stop mass shooters before they carry out an attack.
Biden announced he would nominate former federal agent David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Chipman, who spent 25 years as an ATF special agent, is a senior policy advisor for the gun-control advocacy group Giffords.
Here’s what Biden’s actions will do, according to the White House:
Direct the Justice Department to propose a rule within 30 days to help stop the proliferation of ghost guns – firearms assembled from kits that often lack serial numbers and are difficult to trace.
Direct the DOJ to craft a rule within 60 days that clarifies the point at which a stabilizing arm brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle, subjecting that firearm to additional regulations.
Direct the DOJ to publish, within 60 days, model red-flag legislation, which lets law enforcement officers or family members ask a court to temporarily bar someone from accessing guns under certain circumstances. The White House says the model legislation will make it easier for states to pass their own versions of that law.
Direct the DOJ to issue a comprehensive report on gun trafficking.
The administration also hopes to focus investment in “community violence interventions,” which are methods for lowering gun violence in cities without incarcerating people, the fact sheet said. Some metropolitan areas, such as New York City, are grappling with a surge in shooting crimes and homicides amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In his speech Thursday, Biden lamented that gun violence has become “an international embarrassment” for the U.S.
MPR News is streaming live coverage of the trial. Some images or material discussed during the trial will be disturbing to many viewers. Watch the morning court proceedings here. Watch the afternoon’s proceedings here:
3 things to know:
Pulmonologist says George Floyd died from low level of oxygen; medical examiner who ruled Floyd’s death a homicide to testify Friday
“Pain compliance” maneuver, unwarranted force used on Floyd, prosecution expert testifies
Case expected to hinge on responsibility for Floyd’s death; defense points to Floyd’s health conditions, drugs; prosecution points to Chauvin’s actions
Updated 12:37 p.m.
George Floyd died from a low level of oxygen, due to “shallow breathing,” a pulmonologist testified Thursday morning in ex-officer Derek Chauvin’s murder and manslaughter trial.
Floyd was unable to get enough air into his body because he was placed in a prone position pinned to the street with his hands cuffed behind his back and Chauvin’s knees on his neck and back, Dr. Martin Tobin told jurors.
“It’s like the left side is in a vise. It’s totally being pushed in, squeezed in from each side — from the street at the bottom, and then the way the handcuffs are manipulated,” he said. “It’s not just the handcuffs, it’s how the handcuffs are being held, how they’re being pushed, where they’re being pushed that totally interfere with central features of how we breathe.”
Tobin gave jurors a brief anatomy lesson and explained how pressure on the neck affects the ability to breathe. “The knee on the neck is extremely important because it’s going to occlude the air getting in through the passageway,” he said.
He told the court that “a healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died.”
Jurors were shown a still image from the bystander video showing Chauvin putting nearly all his weight on Floyd’s neck. In a subsequent graphic, Tobin explained that he estimated more than 90 pounds of force was being applied. Tobin said a close-up photo shows Floyd trying to use his face to push back and get more air into his lungs.
In his analysis, Tobin said that Chauvin continued to apply his weight on Floyd for at least three minutes after there was zero oxygen left in his body. Watching the bystander video, Tobin identified 8:24:53 p.m. as the moment Floyd died. “That’s the moment the light goes out of his body.”
The pulmonologist also addressed the question of whether drugs played a role in Floyd’s death. The defense has been building an argument that Floyd died due to underlying medical conditions or drugs in his system, and not due to Chauvin’s knee on his neck or the other two officers also holding him down with their body weight.
But Tobin testified that Floyd’s respiratory rate was normal until he stopped breathing. Had Floyd been impacted by fentanyl, Tobin said, his respiratory rate would have been suppressed.
Chauvin, who was fired from the Minneapolis police force, faces murder and manslaughter charges in Floyd’s May 25 killing while in police custody. Bystander video showed Chauvin with his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the man lay handcuffed and face down on the pavement, pleading that he couldn’t breathe.
Medical examiner who ruled Floyd’s death a homicide testifies Friday
Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker is expected to take the stand Friday.
With the trial’s outcome expected to hinge on who or what killed Floyd while he was in police custody, Baker’s highly anticipated testimony will be crucial for the prosecution and defense.
Baker’s report also identified “hypertensive heart disease,” “fentanyl intoxication” and “recent methamphetamine use” as other “significant conditions.”
Baker will be called to the stand Friday by the prosecution. During an off-mic comment made before the jury was seated Thursday morning, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told Judge Peter Cahill the state planned to call Baker on Friday.
BCA agent: Chauvin kept pressure on 4 minutes after Floyd stopped moving
Much of Wednesday’s testimony dug deep into sometimes arcane detail around the maneuvers Chauvin and other officers used to subdue Floyd, the nature of officer training in tense situations and the composition of stains and pills found during the investigation into Floyd’s killing.
A BCA expert testified that several bloodstains in the squad belonged to Floyd and that a pill with Floyd’s DNA was also found there; testing revealed it contained fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent James Reyerson was asked by prosecutor Matthew Frank about when Floyd stopped moving.
“Does it appear that Mr. Chauvin is using his legs to hold Mr. Floyd down?” Frank asked Reyerson, who replied, “Yes, it does.”
While Chauvin restrained Floyd on the ground for about 9 1/2 minutes, Reyerson testified in court that Floyd was not responsive for more than four minutes before paramedics arrived.
Reyerson outlined the extent of the criminal investigation during his testimony, which he said involved interviews with about 200 citizen witnesses, as well as assistance from about two dozen FBI agents.
‘At that point, it’s just pain’
Wednesday began with a prosecution use-of-force expert concluding that Chauvin’s restraint of Floyd constituted an unwarranted use of deadly force.
Jody Stiger noted that Floyd’s subdued position — handcuffed, prone and pinned face down on the street — created the danger of positional asphyxia even without the pressure of Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck. Adding the body weight increased the likelihood of death, he added.
Stiger also said his analysis of video and images of Chauvin’s restraint on Floyd showed Chauvin grasping the fingers of Floyd’s left hand in what appeared to be a “pain compliance” maneuver.
“Pain compliance is a technique that officers use to get a subject to comply with their commands. As they comply, they are rewarded with a reduction in their pain,” Stiger explained.
What if there’s no opportunity for compliance, the prosecution asked. Stiger responded: “Then at that point, it’s just pain.”
During his testimony, the prosecution dissected a few still frames from videos that captured the incident in an attempt to counter the defense’s argument that Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s shoulder blade instead of his neck. The defense brought that up Tuesday.
But in the photos presented, Stiger said Chauvin appears to be using his body weight and knee to push down on Floyd’s neck.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Eric Nelson, Stiger agreed that objective reasonable use of force standards can differ by police departments, although all follow state and federal law. But Nelson couldn’t get Stiger to agree on every point specific to this case, including whether a handcuffed person can still pose a threat.
“And sometimes the use of force is instantaneous?” asked Nelson.
“Sometimes, but not in this case,” Stiger replied.
The defense has suggested during the trial that the tension between the officers and the bystanders kept the officers from attending to Floyd’s distress.
Stiger said Chauvin’s experience — he was a 19-year veteran of the force with hundreds of hours of training — should have been sufficient to prepare for this distraction.
Trial basics
Who’s who: A look at the key players in the trial.
Need to know: Key questions about the trial, answered.
What we know about the jurors: The 12 jurors and two alternates picked to review the case include a chemist, a youth volunteer, a cardiac nurse and an IT professional.
MPR News on its coverage:Nancy Lebens, the newsroom’s deputy managing editor, answered audience questions about our reporting plans.
George Floyd and his legacy
Remembering George Floyd, the man: Before he became a symbol in the fight for racial justice, friends say George Floyd was a “gentle giant” who sought a fresh start.
Making George Floyd Square: Here’s how the site of George Floyd’s killing — 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis — is being reshaped.
Calls for change: Here’s what some activists tell MPR News about their experiences with race in Minnesota, why they march and what they hope for the future.
Read more
Could mask hamper Chauvin’s image with jurors? The face mask that Derek Chauvin has been required to wear during his trial has hidden his reaction to testimony. That includes any sympathy or remorse that legal experts say can make a difference to jurors. (The Associated Press)
Questioning blurs meaning of ‘lawful but awful’: The phrase typically refers to police shootings when the officer is found to have reasonably feared for their life and fired. Legal observers say Derek Chauvin’s defense will have a hard time making that case. (The Associated Press)
What is excited delirium? Derek Chauvin’s attorney has raised the concept of excited delirium as testimony examines whether reasonable force was used on George Floyd. (The Associated Press)
How long did it take medics to reach Floyd? Last week, the defense questioned paramedics in their efforts to resuscitate George Floyd, and seemed to suggest a drawn-out response, potentially setting up an argument that if medical help had arrived sooner, Floyd could have been saved. (The Associated Press)
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The administration has struggled to house young migrants at Customs and Border Protection facilities like this one in Donna, Texas.
Dario Lopez-Mills/AP
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Dario Lopez-Mills/AP
The administration has struggled to house young migrants at Customs and Border Protection facilities like this one in Donna, Texas.
Dario Lopez-Mills/AP
The number of migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in March was the most in at least 15 years, as agents for U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended nearly 172,000 people, according to Biden administration officials.
This included nearly 19,000 children and teenagers traveling without a parent — double the levels from February and the most ever in a single month.
The overall surge in March — a 71% spike over February’s figures — illustrates the scope of the ongoing challenge President Biden faces as he seeks to enforce the border while overhauling the nation’s asylum rules.
Administration officials said CPB turns adult migrants back 60% of the time because of Title 42, the health order implemented by the Trump administration aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus. And nearly 30% of the migrants had been previously turned back because of Title 42.
“The levels of flows pose a challenge to Border Patrol, but the high level of recidivism means that we can’t look at those flows as individual people. It’s often the same people coming back through,” an official told reporters.
The administration has been struggling to handle the influx of children, who are not being turned away at the border. Facilities run by CBP are not designed to house children and teens. In March, there was progress, officials said. By the end of the month, an average of 507 children a day were being transferred out of CBP facilities, up from 276 per day a month earlier.
“We are moving in the right direction, but we know we know we have a lot of work ahead,” the official said, noting the administration has increased the number of emergency shelter beds.
In January, graffiti opposing the Irish Sea border was daubed on walls in some loyalist areas, including parts of Bangor, Belfast, Glengormley, and the home of one of Northern Ireland’s main ports, Larne.
The federal probe looking into whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her travel began last year and grew out of the Greenberg investigation.
“We believe this case is going to be a plea,” federal prosecutor Roger Handberg said at the outset of the brief hearing. “My hope would be that it is done this month.”
Scheller agreed that his client is looking to deal. “I expect this case to be resolved with a plea,” the defense lawyer said moments later.
However, Scheller said he doubted the details of the agreement could be hashed out by the end of April.
“I don’t think it is realistic for the plea to be resolved this month,” Scheller told the judge.
The brief hearing took less than 10 minutes, and attorneys did not mention Gaetz by name. The exchange, however, strongly suggested that Greenberg is likely assisting the prosecution.
The new development signals potentially serious trouble for Gaetz as prosecutors now have someone close to the congressman apparently willing to provide an insider account of his activities. Such information and perspective can be vital to provide context for the financial and travel records prosecutors are known to be scrutinizing.
Greenberg, however, could have credibility problems as a witness if he takes the stand against Gaetz because the former tax collector faces separate charges of having sex with a minor and for falsely smearing a rival as a pedophile.
During the hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Presnell said he would move a potential trial from June to July, in case the current discussions between Greenberg and prosecutors don’t work out. But the judge seemed pleased that the case now seems unlikely to go to trial.
“I also need to accommodate the possibility there’s an impasse,” the judge said. “Hopefully, there won’t be a problem and the plea will be resolved.”
Presnell ordered the two sides to report back to him by May 15 on whether they have a deal.
A chummy, relaxed atmosphere prevailed between prosecutors and Greenberg’s attorney prior to the hearing, with lawyers for both sides at one point moving to a corner of the courtroom to confer outside the earshot of journalists sitting in the gallery.
Greenberg, who’s currently in a county jail, was not on hand for the hearing Thursday. Presnell, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, said Greenberg’s presence was not required.
Speaking to reporters after the court session, Scheller remained cagey about whether his client has provided information about Gaetz to federal prosecutors. But the defense lawyer said of Greenberg: “He’s uniquely positioned.”
Scheller also said the plea talks with the government were underway before the latest indictment against Greenberg was filed last month and that those new charges came as no surprise to him and his client.
Gaetz, a high-profile Trump loyalist, claimed that he’s been the victim of a brazen extortion attempt related to the investigation and is being targeted by his political enemies.
However, the Republican congressman has acknowledged that he sometimes paid for travel and other expenses of women he dated, apparently giving prosecutors fodder to examine whether any of his funds went to girls who were under 18 at the time.
POLITICO reported Tuesday that friends of the men say Greenberg introduced Gaetz to women Greenberg found through profiles on websites like Seeking Arrangement, which feature women looking for “sugar daddy” relationships with wealthy men.
“I have never paid for sex,” Gaetz said in a text message sent to POLITICO.
Paying for sex would normally be a state, not a federal, crime. However, arranging for people to cross state lines to engage in prostitution is a federal offense. Use of the internet and interstate phone calls to arrange such activity could also be charged federally, with higher penalties if minors are involved.
While the details of Greenberg’s potential deal with prosecutors were not spelled out in court, such agreements typically require cooperation with the government and a promise to provide testimony against other potential defendants. In exchange, prosecutors would likely drop many of the 33 felony charges leveled against the former tax collector in a superseding indictment handed up last week.
Such a move would reduce the maximum prison time Greenberg could face. In addition, his sentencing would likely be put off until after his cooperation — and potential testimony against others is complete.
Manchin’s outright rejection of any filibuster reform came a day after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., another moderate, told The Wall Street Journal that she opposed efforts to ease the rules.
Manchin, who holds outsize influence as a result of the even divide in Congress’ upper chamber, also said he opposed the regular use of budget reconciliation, a mechanism that allows Congress to pass certain bills with a bare majority.
The $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill was passed via reconciliation, and Democrats have been preparing to use the process to assure the passage of Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Manchin has said he opposes the corporate tax hikes included in the bill.
Manchin wrote that if the filibuster were eliminated or budget reconciliation became the norm, a “new and dangerous precedent will be set to pass sweeping, partisan legislation that changes the direction of our nation every time there is a change in political control.”
“The consequences will be profound — our nation may never see stable governing again,” Manchin wrote.
“I simply do not believe budget reconciliation should replace regular order in the Senate. How is that good for the future of this nation?” Manchin added. “Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues. Republicans, however, have a responsibility to stop saying no, and participate in finding real compromise with Democrats.”
Manchin said his opposition to weakening the filibuster was related to his representation of West Virginia, a small state that wields influence in the Senate that is disproportionate to its population.
“It’s no accident that a state as small as West Virginia has the same number of senators as California or Texas. It goes to the heart of what representative government is all about,” Manchin wrote.
Manchin opposed the Democratic-led effort in 2013 to eliminate the filibuster for Cabinet-level nominees and federal judges and the Republican-led effort in 2017 to eliminate it for Supreme Court nominees. Both efforts were successful.
“Every time the Senate voted to weaken the filibuster in the past decade, the political dysfunction and gridlock have grown more severe,” Manchin wrote. “The political games playing out in the halls of Congress only fuel the hateful rhetoric and violence we see across our country right now.”
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The gunman who killed five people, including a prominent doctor in South Carolina, was former NFL player Phillip Adams, who killed himself early Thursday, according to a source who was briefed on the investigation.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said Adams’ parents live near the doctor’s home in Rock Hill, and that he had been treated by the doctor. The source said Adams killed himself after midnight with a .45-caliber weapon. He was 32.
The York County Sheriff’s Office said they had searched for hours before finding the suspect in a nearby home.
Adams played in 78 NFL games over five seasons for six teams. A safety and special teams player from South Carolina State, he joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick.
As a rookie late in the 2010 season, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury that required surgery that included several screws being inserted into the leg. He never played for the 49ers again, getting released just before the 2011 season began and signing with New England. Only in 2013 with the Raiders was he on a roster for a full season.
Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, were pronounced dead at the scene, along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the York County coroner’s office said.
A man who had been working at the home, James Lewis, 38, from Gaston, was found shot to death outside, and a sixth person was hospitalized with “serious gunshot wounds,” York County Sheriff’s Office’s spokesperson Trent Faris said.
Faris said early Thursday that deputies were called around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday to the Lesslies’ home and spent hours searching for the suspect before finding him in a nearby home.
“We have found the person we believe is responsible and we are with him at this time, and that’s all I can say about the suspect,” Faris said, adding that they had no reason to believe anyone else was involved. “We are currently at his house and we are serving a search warrant.”
Later Thursday, a few sheriff’s deputies were posted near the Lesslie home, which is far beyond an arched stone gate, up a long paved driveway and not visible from the road. The Adams home, roughly a mile down the road, is a modest, one-story brick house; there were several cars in the driveway.
Lesslie had worked for decades as an emergency room physician in Rock Hill, board-certified in both emergency medicine and occupational medicine and serving as emergency department medical director for nearly 15 years at Rock Hill General Hospital, according to his website.
He founded two urgent care centers in the area and wrote a weekly medical column for The Charlotte Observer. He also wrote a book, “Angels in the ER,” collecting what he termed “inspiring true stories” from his time in the emergency department.
“I know without a doubt that life is fragile,” Lesslie wrote, according to an excerpt. “I have come to understand that humility may be the greatest virtue. And I am convinced we need to take the time to say the things we deeply feel to the people we deeply care about.”
Faris said Lesslie was very well known in the Rock Hill community.
“Dr. Lesslie was my doctor growing up,” Faris said. “Dr. Lesslie has been one of those people that everybody knows. He started Riverview Medical Center in Rock Hill and it’s been a staple in Rock Hill for years.”
A biography page said he and his wife raised four children, and that Lesslie received his degree at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Rock Hill is a city in northernmost South Carolina about 25 miles southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Washington — President Biden is set to unveil his first attempts to curb gun violence on Thursday, announcing a set of modest moves designed to begin revamping federal gun policy by tweaking the government’s definition of a firearm and more aggressively responding to urban gun violence.
Mr. Biden on Thursday is also set to nominate David Chipman, a former special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), to lead the agency. A widely quoted expert on gun violence, Chipman in recent years has served as policy director for Giffords, the gun control organization founded by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in a 2011 assassination attempt.
If confirmed, Chipman would be the first permanent director of the agency in more than six years. Given the fraught nature of gun politics, only one ATF director has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the last 15 years, leaving the agency mostly run by a string of acting bosses.
The president is set to formally announce the pick on Thursday when he unveils other steps he’s taking through executive action to address gun violence. He will be joined by Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose Justice Department will be tasked with taking some of its most aggressive steps on gun policy in more than a decade.
How to watch President Biden’s remarks on gun violence
What: President Biden announces executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence
The changes include reviewing federal policy surrounding ghost guns — handmade or self-assembled firearms that don’t include serial numbers — and the use of stabilizing braces on pistols, a modification that turns the weapon into a short-barreled rifle.
Advocates for gun control are pushing the president to classify ghost guns as traditional firearms, a move that would require anyone who buys them to undergo a federal background check. On Thursday, Mr. Biden will give the Justice Department 30 days to issue potential changes in federal rules “to help stop the proliferation” of the weapons, according to the White House.
Given the handmade nature of the weapons, ghost guns often cannot be traced by law enforcement because serial numbers are not required.
The Justice Department is also being given 60 days to issue a proposed rule regarding stabilizing braces. Attaching such a brace to a pistol makes the firearm more stable and in essence transforms it into a short-barreled rifle subject to regulation by federal law. The White House noted that the alleged shooter in the March supermarket shooting in Boulder, Colorado, appears to have used a pistol with a brace.
The Justice Department also will be asked to draft model legislation to enact “red flag” laws at the state level. For years, lawmakers in both parties have been pushing for federal and state legislation that would temporarily bar people facing mental anguish or other personal crises from accessing firearms if law enforcement or a judge determine they present a danger to themselves or others.
To curb the uptick in homicides nationwide, the Biden administration is also asking five federal agencies to adapt more than two dozen government programs to help buoy community violence intervention programs nationwide. The White House noted that the president’s American Jobs Plan proposes spending $5 billion over eight years to support state and city-based violence intervention programs.
The new plans earned swift support from national gun control organizations Wednesday night.
John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement that the moves “will start to address the epidemic of gun violence that has raged throughout the pandemic, and begin to make good on President Biden’s promise to be the strongest gun safety president in history.” He added later that the decision to target ghost guns and “treat them like the deadly weapons they are will undoubtedly save countless lives – as will the critical funding provided to groups that focus on city gun violence.”
Organizations pushing for stricter gun laws and Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for years for the federal government to reclassify ghost guns and force purchasers to undergo background checks.
“Ghost guns are guns, too. And it’s time to close the loophole,” Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who’s pushed for legislation to regulate ghost guns, tweeted Wednesday.
The NRA, meanwhile, immediately pushed back on the plans. The organization tweeted Wednesday night that the actions were “extreme” and wrote “the NRA is ready to fight.”
“These actions could require law-abiding citizens to surrender lawful property, and push states to expand gun confiscation orders,” the NRA tweeted.
Growing in popularity but difficult to track broadly given the lack of a serial number, ghost guns have been used in multiple shooting-related crimes in recent years.
The Biden administration has been reluctant to publicly discuss gun control amid its initial focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic downturn. During his first formal news conference last month, the president signaled he would not be rushed to address the issue despite recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado and that his administration would remain focused primarily on pushing legislative responses to the pandemic and his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan.
His decision has allowed critics to highlight how Mr. Biden came up short on fulfilling a notable campaign pledge. Appearing in Nevada in February 2020, Mr. Biden vowed to send legislation to Congress on his first day in office that would repeal the liability protection for gun manufactures and closing loopholes in the federal gun background check system.
For weeks, administration aides have said plans were still in the works — a posture that didn’t change in the wake of those recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado.
Corey Rangel, Nancy Cordes, Kristin Brown and Fin Gomez contributed to this report.
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Rioters set a hijacked bus on fire and hurled gasoline bombs at police in Belfast in at least the fourth night of serious violence in a week in Northern Ireland, where Brexit has unsettled an uneasy political balance.
Youths threw projectiles and petrol bombs at police on Wednesday night in the Protestant Shankill Road area, while rioters lobbed bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs in both directions over the concrete “peace wall” separating the Shankill Road from a neighboring Irish nationalist area.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said several hundred people gathered on both sides of a gate in the wall, where “crowds … were committing serious criminal offenses, both attacking police and attacking each other.”
He said a total of 55 police officers have been injured over several nights of disorder.
Hijacked cars burn at the peace wall on Lanark Way as rioting broke out in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The police had to close roads into the nearby Protestant area as crowds from each divide attacked each other. (Associated Press)
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the unrest, and Northern Ireland’s Belfast-based government was holding an emergency meeting Thursday on the riots.
Johnson appealed for calm, saying “the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality.” Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Irish nationalists Sinn Fein both condemned the disorder and the attacks on police.
The recent violence, largely in pro-British loyalist areas, has flared amid rising tensions over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and worsening relations between the parties in the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing Belfast government.
Nationalists and Loyalists clash with one another at the peace wall on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The police had to close roads into the near by Protestant area as crowds from each divide attacked each other. (Associated Press)
The latest disturbances followed unrest over the Easter long weekend in unionist areas in and around Belfast and Londonderry, also known as Derry, that saw cars set on fire and projectiles and gasoline bombs hurled at police officers.
Authorities have accused outlawed paramilitary groups of inciting young people to cause mayhem.
“We saw young people participating in serious disorder and committing serious criminal offenses, and they were supported and encouraged, and the actions were orchestrated by adults at certain times,” said Roberts, the senior police officer.
Britain’s economic split from the European Union at the end of 2020 has disturbed the political balance in Northern Ireland, a part of the U.K. where some people identify as British and some as Irish.
Hijacked cars burn at the peace wall on Lanark Way as rioting broke out in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The police had to close roads into the nearby Protestant area as crowds from each divide, Nationalists and Loyalists, attacked each other. (Associated Press)
A new U.K.-EU trade deal has imposed customs and border checks on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. The arrangement was designed to avoid checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland, an EU member, because an open Irish border has helped underpin the peace process built on the 1998 Good Friday accord.
The accord ended decades of violence involving Irish republicans, British loyalists and U.K. armed forces in which more than 3,000 people died. But unionists say the new checks amount to a new border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.
Police move in to separate Nationalists and Loyalists after they clashed with one another at the peace wall on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The police had to close roads into the nearby Protestant area as crowds from each divide attacked each other. (Associated Press)
Unionists are also angry at a police decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians who attended the funeral of a former Irish Republican Army commander in June. The funeral of Bobby Storey drew a large crowd, despite coronavirus rules barring mass gatherings.
The main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of Northern Ireland’s police chief over the controversy, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is seeking to ease a national affordable housing shortage by pushing local governments to allow apartment buildings in neighborhoods that are currently restricted to single-family homes.
The $5 billion plan could inject the White House into a debate pitting older homeowners against younger workers seeking to gain a foothold in the most expensive U.S. cities, where many families spend a third or more of their income on housing.
The proposal, which would provide financial incentives to local governments that change zoning laws restricting many neighborhoods to single-family homes, is an example of the sort of broad social policy changes Democrats are including in Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill.
Critics of the zoning laws say they drive up housing costs, contribute to urban and suburban sprawl and perpetuate racial segregation.
“It’s an enormous step forward,” said Richard Kahlenberg, a housing expert at the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank. “Very few politicians have taken the next step to propose something really meaningful to change the system.”
The infrastructure bill would need to pass the narrowly Democratic-controlled Congress, where Republicans are already attacking it as not focused on roads and bridges.
Zoning laws were rare in the United States until the Supreme Court in 1917 struck down laws that prevented Black people from buying property in white neighborhoods, prompting local governments to adopt rules that set minimum lot sizes and barred apartment buildings from many neighborhoods.
Under pressure from politically active homeowners, urban areas with the tightest restrictions in place – coastal cities including New York and San Francisco – have increased them further since 2006, according to a University of Pennsylvania survey.
Younger Americans, civil rights groups and employers have pushed some cities in the opposite direction. In recent years, Minneapolis has allowed small apartments to be built in residential areas across the city, and Oregon made a similar change for all urban areas.
California last year allowed smaller living spaces to be built next to single-family homes. But its Democratic-controlled legislature rejected a bill that would have required cities to allow developers to build high-density apartment buildings near transit lines and job centers, even if they are located in single-family neighborhoods.
With the U.S. economy near full employment in 2019, roughly one in three U.S. households still spent more than 30% of income on housing, near record highs, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
‘NEW APPROACH’
The Biden proposal would set up a $5 billion fund for local governments to compete for grants to pay for new schools, roads or bridges if they agreed to loosen zoning rules.
“This is a new approach that is purely carrot, no stick,” said a White House official on condition of anonymity.
A similar effort by Democratic former President Barack Obama failed to gain traction. Republican former President Donald Trump’s housing secretary, Ben Carson, voiced support for easing zoning rules but did not take action.
Trump himself explicitly campaigned against the idea last year, warning “suburban housewives” that crime would spike and home values drop if zoning rules were relaxed.
Housing experts praised Biden’s proposal, but said it may do little to influence affluent communities that have the tightest zoning laws, which have little need for federal assistance.
“This isn’t going to change the world, but it could do some amount of good,” said Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank.
Biden may get more results if he conditions the hundreds of billions of dollars of transportation and housing spending in his proposal to zoning changes, but that could spur a backlash that could make it harder to pass into law, she said.
The sheer scale of Biden’s proposed spending – $2 trillion in infrastructure following $1.9 trillion in coronavirus aid – may also dilute the impact of the $5 billion fund.
“We’ll have to see how this plays out in a world in which there will be a lot of money sloshing around,” said Michael Stegman at the Urban Institute, who is a former senior housing adviser to Obama.
Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Jarrett Reshaw; Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney
After discovering the site in 2016, Gay had received a $25,000 grant from the National Conservation Lands Scientific Studies Support Program, money Congress sets aside for scientific work on national conservation lands, including national monuments. He had started excavating, but once his site fell outside of the national monument boundaries, he said, he could no longer access the funding.
A forensic scientist testified in the trial of Derek Chauvin Wednesday that she found George Floyd’s blood and pills with Floyd’s DNA in the squad car where Floyd struggled with officers. Chauvin, who was seen in disturbing videos kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
McKenzie Anderson, a crime scene team leader with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, testified that she photographed but didn’t collect the pills when she first processed the squad car in May 2020. She also found two pills in the car Floyd was driving when she processed it at the same time. She said she re-processed the squad car at the request of the defense team in January 2021 and collected and tested the pills found in the back seat, confirming they contained Floyd’s saliva.
Forensic scientist McKenzie Anderson testifies in the trial of Derek Chauvin, April 7, 2021.
Court TV/pool via WCCO
Brehana Giles, a chemist with the Minnesota state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, then took the stand. She said her testing found that the pills in the squad car contained methamphetamine and potential other substances she could not identify. Prosecutors then called Susan Neith, a forensic chemist based in Pennsylvania who also tested the pills. Neith testified she was able to identify fentanyl as well as methamphetamine in the pills found in the squad car, but she said the methamphetamine level was much lower than typical street meth.
Both chemists found that the pills in the car Floyd was driving contained both methamphetamine and fentanyl, and were marked to look like pharmaceutical drugs. Court recessed for the day following their testimony.
The testimony is significant because the defense has suggested that Floyd, who suffered from heart disease, died of a heart arrhythmia brought on by drugs he ingested and adrenaline. The prosecution argues Floyd died of oxygen deprivation beneath the pressure of Chauvin’s knee.
Earlier, LAPD Sergeant Jody Stiger, a prosecution expert in tactics and de-escalation training, testified that Chauvin used deadly force against Floyd. Stiger testified he believed no force was necessary once Floyd was handcuffed, on the ground and no longer resisting.
Stiger testified Tuesday that in his view, officers used excessive force against Floyd during the fatal arrest on May 25, 2020.
“My opinion was the force was excessive,” Stiger said.
Stiger told prosecutors he did not believe the crowd of onlookers to pose a threat to officers during the incident, “because they were merely filming, and most of it was their concern for Mr. Floyd.” Defense attorney Eric Nelson has attempted to portray the crowd as unruly.
But on cross-examination by Nelson, Stiger acknowledged some of the name-calling and aggressive statements by the crowd could be perceived as a threat.
Chauvin has pleaded not guilty. The other three officers involved are charged with aiding and abetting, and are expected to be tried jointly in August.
President Biden leaves after speaking about his sprawling $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan on Wednesday.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden leaves after speaking about his sprawling $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan on Wednesday.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden’s infrastructure train is leaving the station.
In remarks Wednesday pushing for his sweeping $2.3 trillion plan, Biden said he wants to meet with Republicans on it and hopes to negotiate in “good faith” — a political tenet that hasn’t been practiced much in Washington, D.C., in recent years.
But Biden is not waiting around.
“We will not be open to doing nothing,” the president said. “Inaction, simply, is not an option.”
Translation: Get on board or step aside.
This Biden technique is one former Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt., recently described to Politico as “smiling as he steamrolls.”
To be clear, Biden will have challenges when it comes to passing his infrastructure and jobs plan through Congress — and not just with Republicans, but with members of his own party, too. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a more moderate Democrat, has voiced opposition to hiking the corporate tax rate as much as the president wants, for example, while Virginia Sen. Mark Warner has expressed concerns as well.
With the narrowest of majorities, one defection kneecaps the ability for Democrats to pass anything — even through partisan procedures like budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority and which was used for the COVID-19 relief bill.
But Biden’s overall approach to legislating so far — on a big, bold agenda — is winning plaudits from political strategists, left and right.
“I am more impressed with Joe Biden than I ever thought I could be in the last few months,” said Jamal Simmons, a Democratic political analyst who worked as an adviser to the Democratic National Committee during Barack Obama’s first run for the White House and in the Clinton administration.
Several strategists said Biden has been more organized and disciplined out of the gate than former Democratic Presidents Obama or Bill Clinton, and they said his team’s steadiness — so far — resembles someone Biden has almost nothing in common with from a policy standpoint: George W. Bush.
“In contrast to his immediate predecessor and President Obama, the Biden team’s policy rollouts have been about as smooth, methodical and drama-free as you could expect, particularly given the polarized nature of our politics,” said Brian Jones, a veteran of the 2004 Bush reelection team.
“The Biden team,” Jones added, “is effectively taking advantage of D.C.’s Trump hangover, by just engaging in straightforward communications tactics.”
Jones noted that the Bush White House made a point of having “a very focused, businesslike approach when it came to his policy priorities, and he scored some victories early in his first term with No Child Left Behind and his tax cuts. It seems like Biden has taken a page from the Bush playbook, essentially cauterizing the chaos that defined Trump’s policy announcements and replacing it with a fact-driven, drama-free approach that’s working.”
Maria Cardona — who worked in the Clinton administration, on the Hillary Clinton 2008 primary campaign and served as a surrogate for both Obama elections — agreed, and said the early success is in no small part due to experience and professionalism.
“It reinforces the fact that governing actually does take experience and does take knowledge,” she said. “Experience and knowledge are not conspiracy theories against a certain bereaved class that Trump ran on and won. Governing really does take experience. George W. Bush, he got some stuff passed, like No Child Left Behind and tax cuts, and, yes, it was because he had seasoned political people at his side.”
“An opportunity to deliver massive change”
Biden clearly wants to do big things. On Wednesday, he made a case for a grand vision when it came to infrastructure. He drew on the past, but looked to the future and swatted down GOP concerns about the size of the plan and their criticism that he should focus on “traditional infrastructure” like roads, highways and bridges.
“We are America,” the president said. “We don’t just fix for today, we build for tomorrow. Two hundred years ago, trains weren’t traditional infrastructure either until America made a choice to lay down tracks across the country. Highways weren’t traditional infrastructure until we allowed ourselves to imagine that roads could connect our nation across state lines.”
Workers operate a front loader as they make infrastructure repairs Wednesday in San Francisco.
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Biden has been acutely aware of attempting to establish his place in history, even having just been in office fewer than 100 days. Last month, in fact, the 78-year-old met with historians at the White House. Biden wants to be a bridge to the transformation of the country — and this infrastructure proposal is clearly a big part of that.
“He sees this as an opportunity to deliver massive change, the literal infrastructure of the country,” said Gurwin Ahuja, who worked in the Obama administration and was an early supporter of Biden’s and worked on his campaign. “His general approach of not being distracted by the day to day is why he is president. It is the singular reason he was able to defeat so many candidates when he was running in the Democratic primary.”
Biden’s tactics are different from Obama’s, analyst Simmons said.
“It’s the return of traditional politics in a way that neither Trump nor Obama were willing to do,” Simmons said, noting, “The Obama people did really good things. I think that they did not sell them very well.”
Ahuja sees the difference as something not unprecedented in U.S. politics.
“It’s a Kennedy and Johnson-type dynamic,” Ahuja said, referring to former Democratic President John F. Kennedy and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy as president. “Lyndon Johnson was phenomenal at working Congress, because that’s what he did. President Obama was phenomenal at inspiring the public, as did Kennedy.”
Biden has much smaller majorities in Congress than Johnson had, however, and this is a time of embittered partisanship. And while Biden would prefer bipartisanship, Cardona notes that Biden “learned the lessons of the Obama era” — not to wait around for Republican support that never materialized.
“A lot of people in the Democratic Party thought, this guy is living in ‘la la land,’ ” she said. But despite fears that some of the pitfalls of the Obama administration would be repeated, Cardona sees Biden operating on “parallel tracks.”
“He’s not giving up on bipartisanship,” she noted, “but he is living in a cold and cruel reality. … These are things Biden has learned the hard way and taken to heart.”
Republicans, though, don’t see Biden as willing to come around to their positions and is instead paying lip service to bipartisanship with the intention of forcing through partisan legislation.
“The Biden team is playing the game as the rules currently exist,” Democrat Simmons said. “This is the bus. You can argue about the paint color, the tires, but this is the bus. … They [Biden’s staffers] don’t have a choice. They just have to get the bus down the road, get accomplishments and show the American people that the government and reestablished order can produce results.”
Biden seems very aware of that need to show competence — and results.
“We’re at an inflection point in American democracy,” Biden said Wednesday. “This is a moment where we prove whether or not democracy can deliver.”
Biden to unveil executive actions to tighten gun restrictions
President Joe Biden is set to unveil six executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence on Thursday, following a string of mass shootings that has put pressure on the administration to act upon the president’s long-held campaign promise to tackle gun control. The first action will direct the Department of Justice to propose a rule within 30 days to stop the proliferation of so-called “ghost guns,” or makeshift weapons that can be constructed at home or that lack a serial number, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Moreover, administration officials emphasized that the executive actions were “initial steps” they would take to address gun violence and that officials would work on additional actions in the weeks ahead.
Derek Chauvin murder trial resumes with more witnesses expected
More witnesses are expected to take the stand Thursday in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. Jurors have heard from 30 witnesses so far, with all of them called by the prosecution. One expert witness, Sgt. Jody Stiger of the Los Angeles Police Department, testified Wednesday that the continuous pressure Chauvin exerted on Floyd “raised the possibility of death.” But defense attorney Eric Nelson shifted focus back to Floyd’s drug use, suggesting Floyd said the words “I ate too many drugs” during his struggle with police. He played several seconds of unintelligible police body-cam audio for witnesses. One said he couldn’t make out Floyd’s words, and other said he thought Floyd was saying “I ain’t do no drugs.” Two forensic scientists also said pills found in the SUV and police squad car Floyd had been in that day contained methamphetamine, a stimulant, and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death in May 2020.
Louisiana lawmakers ‘looking into subpoena’ for LSU coach Orgeron
Louisiana lawmakers are not happy that Louisiana State University football coach Ed Orgeron has chosen not to appear Thursday before the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children to answer questions related to its probe of sexual misconduct over the years by LSU football players, and are considering subpoenaing him. Orgeron instead testified in a letter to the committee, which was one of the options he was afforded when it requested his testimony last week. However, state representative Aimee Freeman said that since part of Orgeron’s salary comes from state taxpayers, him not sitting in front of a committee investigating his program is wrong. Orgeron is the highest paid state employee in Louisiana at $6 million a year after winning the 2019-20 national championship. USA TODAY’s reporting revealed widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct cases by both the school’s athletic department and its broader administration.
First round of The Masters tees off in Augusta, Georgia
The Masters, the first major men’s golf tournament of the year, will begin on Thursday. Dustin Johnson is chasing history in his attempt to become the fourth golfer ever to win back-to-back Masters champion titles. Johnson, the current world No. 1, will still have to fend off challengers like Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas to win the title. One familiar face will be missing from the tournament: Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, who is recovering from multiple leg injuries he sustained in a Feb. 23 car crash in Los Angeles. The tournament will begin honorary tee shots of Lee Elder, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player and coverage will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET on CBS.
Disney World to relax mask restrictions for photos
Starting Thursday, Disney World’s mask mandate is updating to allow guests to take their masks off for photos. Masks are still required for all guests ages 2 and up, even those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Previously, guests were only allowed to take their masks off when they were actively eating or drinking, but starting Thursday, visitors will be allowed to take them off for outdoor photos as well. The Florida theme park reopened with COVID-19 restrictions in July and further tightened their mask mandate in the following weeks. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park will open to California residents on April 30 for the first time since shutting down in March 2020.
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